Vespertine by Julie Maren
ArtHaus66 is pleased to bring to New Mexico the stunning paintings of Julie Maren. These large scale paintings offer a furtive view of the secret life of animals in an otherwise inert world. The canvases are populated by very diverse creatures that elicit from the viewer an intense emotional reaction that ranges from apprehension to melancholy.
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A startled white deer, an astute fox or a helpless lamb, these animals pull at our soul’s strings with their strong symbolism and naked splendor. In their simplicity, we see ourselves.
In Vespertine we observe a young lamb perched atop a sinewy branch of a pale tree. It is not quite clear whether this scene is taking place indoors, as the background consists of a dark, ominous grid punctuated by a few even darker dots. The lamb is still, peering out of the canvas at us. Is it in distress? How did it manage to reach such a high branch in this ghostly tree? Nothing in its expression or its surroundings offers any clues, but its presence is doing exactly what it needs to do: we are anxiously rummaging through our minds trying to find an answer, trying to unveil or perhaps even create our own resolution for the lamb’s predicament.
Aurora depicts a moonlight bathed deer in a stark and shadowy landscape. An orb of light seems balanced on the deer’s antlers and it stretches its neck attempting to catch a falling, translucent rose. In the distance, a flowering tree blooms against the red sky. Something seems to have startled the fair deer. Perhaps the falling rose unexpectedly caught its attention as the deer made its way through the barren field. Again, the scene keeps the viewer wondering about the narrative behind the event.
Julie Maren is a Colorado artist who has worked and lived in the Denver area for many years. She recently made the leap to New York in search of new artistic horizons. Her work has been shown in Colorado, Arizona and now in New Mexico for the very first time. She is a painter and a sculptor, as well as an accomplished illustrator of children’s books.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
